anesthetics: painless surgery
... disuse. People feared witches and sorcery so if a doctor used ether, which could quickly make a person unconscious, he would be burned at the stake for witchcraft. Since ther4e were no reliable methods of anesthetics a doctors greatness was determined by his speed with a knife. Discovery of early anesthesia Anesthetics were getting a lot more attention during the 1800's. People started in depth experiments on gasses like ether, carbon dioxide, chloroform and nitrous oxide. Cocaine was also experimented with as an anesthetic. Religion and ignorant views were mo longer stopping improvement. Ether was first used at parties for entertainment. It caused someone that inhaled it to be giddy. People would also inhale nitrous oxide which is also known as laughing gas. The guest at the party would often bump into things and never feel pain. Dr. Crawford Long noticed a man fall and split his head open and walk around as if nothing happened. This lead Long to realize the strength of ether and nitrous oxide. Long was the first person to use ether during surgery on March 30, 1842. A man with two tumors asked Long to remove them. Dr. Long held an ether soaked towel to the man’s face and when he awoke one tumor was hone. Nitrous oxide was first used by Horace Wells in dental surgery. He inhaled the gas himself and had someone pull out his wisdom teeth. He said he only felt a prick. Chloroform was a substitute for ether. It was easier to inhale and didn’t make people nauseous. Dr. James Johnson first used chloroform during childbirth so the woman would have no pain. In honor of the painless childbirth the woman named her daughter Anesthesia. Cocaine was discovered during this time and was also used as an anesthetic. It was injected and would numb as certain area o f the body. This is called local anesthesia. The bad side effects of cocaine and the other anesthetics were not known at this time. These methods were just the beginning of anesthetics. They all had there problems and would need to be improved which is what happened in the next century. Bad side effects All of these methods of anesthesia could be considered as risky. They all have bad side effects. Some could even cause death. It was not known when these anesthetics were first used that these side effects existed. After many years of use in operation rooms the short term and long term side effects became apparent. Of the first three anesthetic gasses (ether, chloroform, and nitrous oxide), only nitrous oxide continues to be used. It also has bad side effects though. It is toxic to the heart and might cause cancer in people routinely exposed to it. Researchers have also learned that it can cause brain damage. Ether makes a person salivate heavily and often vomit. This lead to people choking during an operation. Chloroform was directly linked to fifty deaths in 1856. It lowered the heart rate drastically. These two gases were still used for a long time because there was nothing better. As everyone knows now cocaine is a highly addictive drug. This was not known to doctors in the 1800's though. The doctors that experimented with it became addicted to it. Many patients who used it during epidermal anesthesia stayed in bed for weeks after the surgery complaining about migraines. Cocain was used for local anesthesia until the early 1900's. needless to say cocain is not used today as an anesthetic. There are cocain substitutes though that are used today. These substitutes are made form cocain but don’t have the bad side effects. Have you ever heard of Novocain? The bad side effect of these anesthetics lead scientists to look for new and more effective anesthetics. During the 1900's the search for the perfect anesthetic lead to new discoveries. These discoveries lead to the modern age of anesthesia which made it possible for a surgeon to save more lives. Anesthetics improved During the 1900's anesthesia improved greatly. Life threatening risks could be eliminated. New types of anesthetics emerged that were very effective and bad side effects were minimal. Doctors were well trained in what quantities were safe for different people. A doctor could now use a certain type of anesthetic for certain cases. In 1903 Emil Fischer and Joseph von Mering synthesized barbital and developed barbiturates. Barbiturates help to calm the patient. In the 1930's researchers found better and safer gasses. Cyclopropane could put a patient to sleep in less than two minutes. It was a great anesthetic, but it was also explosive. Cyclopropane was also used to relax muscles, but it was only efficient in very high almost toxic levels. Doctors now use drugs that will relax the muscles which makes certain surgeries like abdominal surgery much easier. Abdominal muscles are very stiff and rigged but when they are relaxed it is easier to go inside the abdomen. Curare is used to do this. It was found in Ecuador and Peru. The Indians there would coat their arrows with curare. Any animal or person wounded by the arrow dropped within moments unable to move. Used in smaller amounts doctors were able to relax a patients muscles. Halothane was created in 1956 and was thought to be the perfect anesthetic. It was not flammable or explosive, it made patients unconscious and relaxed their muscles, and they did not experience salivation, vomiting, or heart problems. One drawback was it broke down into toxic waste which damaged the liver. From Halothane, Isoflurane was created which was just like Halothane except no toxic waste products. Every anesthetic has advantages and disadvantages and each entails some risk. But being anesthetized is safer now then even ten years ago. Modern anesthesia In the modern age technology has helped anesthesia greatly. We have many devices, machines, and equipment to help anesthesiologist. These machines tell the doctor the vital signs of the patient. They can also be used to give anesthetics. “Giving anesthesia is much more sophisticated than it was in the 1800's, when doctors put an ether soaked rag under a patients nose.”(Galas 78) Endotracheal tubes made anesthesia more effective and safe. “It is inserted into the patients trache...